Charlotte dumps love rat

When Charlotte Church fell for 'bad boy' DJ Steven Johnson, the relationship drove the singer and her mother apart.

Maria Church said Johnson was a 'waster' and not fit to be with her multi-millionairess daughter.

Last night it seemed that Charlotte should have listened to mum.

Mrs Church said the 17-year- old soprano had dumped her first love, whom she called her 'bit of rough', after he cheated on her with a model.

Charlotte, who shared her luxury flat with Johnson, packed his bags and dumped them at his mother's house. Yesterday, Charlotte was at her mother's guest house in Cardiff too upset to discuss the break-up.

Friends said she spent the day in floods of tears being comforted by her mother.

And 38-year-old Mrs Church said the family was rallying around to help mend the teenager's broken heart.

'I've made no secret that I'm no fan of Steven's,' she said. 'Charlotte is very upset and it hurts me that he has hurt her like this. I have never liked him but she loved him so much.'

It was only last week that Charlotte spoke of retiring from singing, having children and settling down for life with 19-yearold Johnson.

In an interview with a student newspaper, she said: 'All I really want is a huge family.'

A friend said: 'Charlotte was in love with him and although she is still only 17 she was committed. I think she really believed they would settle down, get married and have babies.

'Steven is a real lad about town - he has a twinkle in his eye. It was bound to happen. But he's on his own now, and

he's nothing without her.' Charlotte, who is worth an estimated £16million, met Johnson in February last year. He lived with his father George on a crime-torn council estate in Cardiff's Tiger Bay district.

She is thought to have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on him, buying him a sports BMW with personalised numberplate plus countless designer outfits and holidays.

Johnson repaid her kindness

by trying to sell the story of their sex life for £100,000.

He told a newspaper yesterday that his relationship with Charlotte was finished and he was 'with someone new', adding: 'She's a model. You'll find out who she is soon enough. I don't know how Charlotte is because I haven't spoken to her. Her mum

will probably have a lot to say about it.'

The split will come as a relief to Mrs Church and her husband James, who had a series of fierce arguments with Charlotte and always feared Johnson would break her heart.

They suspected he was only with the teenager for her fortune, which is being held in a trust fund until she is 21. A year ago, Charlotte fired her mother as her manager and left home.

Johnson's mother, Yvonne Kearle, 40, claimed she was glad the pair had split. 'I'm happy about it,' she said. 'They're only kids after all.'

As for Mrs Church, her managerial instincts were already returning. She compared Johnson to James Gooding, who two-timed Kylie Minogue.

'Kylie received a wave of public sympathy and her career really took off,' she added. 'I can only hope the same thing happens for Charlotte.'